Charging in Blindly
by AmethystHope
Summary: Jim was gone for awhile and his friends were worried. They almost lost their minds in panic after some time. When he suddenly shows up with Enrique in tow, how will he reintegrate into Arcadia? Especially with what he went through in that place.
1. Chap 1 Solo En Casa con El Hermano

**This is just a note for later, but because I don't feel like going through the whole thing with the council being like, Hurp Hurp. Why'd you go there. Now we're all gonna die. I've decided Jim didn't go to the Darklands on purpose. If you're unsatisfied…**

 **Too bad.**

Claire paced her room. She did it so often by now in the same place that the carpet was matted down there. She couldn't really help it though. Her friend was in a place unknown by like everyone and she couldn't do squat about it. Almost every night she would pace. Each time her pacing would only stop if either she threw herself into her bed in an overload of emotions, or her mom or dad came in to wake her up for school. This night was no different.

She flopped onto her bed in tears and glanced at her clock. A groan escaped from her as she noticed it was barely ten minutes before her parents usually woke her up. She grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower.

As Claire stood in the steamy room under the hot water the only thing she could think of was Jim. He hasn't bathed in so long. He probably hasn't even seen water in days. Jim…

Claire turned the water off and dried herself off with a towel but her face refused to stay dry. She threw her clothes on and sat on the floor trying to calm herself. Blinky and AAAARRRG had helped her compile I number of mental exercises a few weeks ago to help with her state of mind. She tried several of them and eventually calmed down enough to finish getting ready for school. She went to her kitchen and tried her best not to think of Jim smiling goofily while making food. She quickly got what she needed and was about to go outside when she heard something from the living room.

She whirled around ready to scold Not-Enrique but only saw her father. The whirling around made her lightheaded and she had to catch herself from falling.

"Claire!" Her father exclaimed, jumping up from the couch.

"What's going on? Claire are you alright?!" Her mother came down the stairs.

"Yes Mama, I'm okay."

"No Claire, you're not okay, and you're not going to school today." Her father said, concerned.

"Your Father is right. Your health is deteriorating from your lack of sleep. Whatever's bothering you… *sigh* you don't need to tell us if you don't want to, but you need to learn how to think about it when you're not supposed to be doing other things."

"Like sleeping."

"Okay, I'll work on that."

"Good, for now, go back to your room and sleep. I'll check on you before I leave for my meeting."

"Okay, Mama." Claire lazily dropped her things by the stairs as she stifled a yawn.

When she got upstairs she checked around for Not-Enrique and found him in her room eating her fathers socks. "Okay, three things. One, stop eating my dad's socks, I'll find you some later. Two, what are you doing in my room eating my dad's socks. Three, change from that form and go back to your room. Mama will be up here soon and I don't want her freaking out and giving us any problems."

"Oh, there's a bit of a problem with that last one missy. You see, for a changeling to change, their human counterpart has to be on a separate plane of existence. The fact that I don't seem able to change to look like Enrique, makes me think he's in this plane of existence. As in, he's not in the darklands anymore."

"Wa...wait. Are you serious? Like, serious serious?"

"For once kid, yeah, I'm serious."

Claire sat on her bed in quiet amazement. She heard footsteps on the stairs and forced Not-Enrique under her bed. Claire dove into her bed just in time to hear a light knock sound on her door. (What even is grammar)

"Claire?"

"Hmm?" Claire responded in fake lethargy.

"Your father just got a call from Uncle Vinny asking for him to meet him in Phoenix. It sounded urgent so your father is getting ready to go as we speak. I'm taking him to the airport. You'll have to watch your brother for a few days because I also got a call. I'll be in Seattle for about a week."

"Okay Mama."

"I'm sorry we have to do this to you sweety. But it's all so last minute. Don't you dare play hooky while we're gone!" Mrs. Nunez momentarily raged. That Lake boy seemed to play more than enough hooky for a whole school population.

"Yes Mama." Claire rolled her eyes.

Her seething anger cooled as she kissed her daughters forehead. "Goodbye Claire bear."

"Goodbye Mama." Claire waited until she heard the car drive away to breathe at all.

"So what're you gonna do?"

"That's a stupid question." Claire stretched. "And it's we. We are going to find my real baby brother. And hopefully get to Jim in the process."

"Alright Sis. But I better get some real nice socks outta this!"


	2. Chap 2 I spy Suspicious Classmates

Eli was usually not outside at… Well, ever. But after school let out and he was walking home, he saw Claire Nunez - who was not at school for once - running into the woods. Tobias what's his face was being pulled along behind her. Eli had seen them do this before so at first he just shrugged and wished he had friends. But then he realized that tall blue eyed dude Jim Lake wasn't with them for once. When he thought hard, Eli couldn't remember seeing Jim in any classes for the past few days.

Being naturally curious, Eli stumbled after his two classmates. He knew Claire would be hard to follow but how in the world was Tobias so fast?! Eli could only catch up to them every so often when they would stop to look around for something. But as soon as he could catch up they would start off running again.

Just when Eli was about to give up on following his classmates, Tobias peaked his interest.

"C'mon, Claire! We've been looking for how long? And we haven't seen either of them! NotEnrique was totally lying to you again."

Eli jumped a bit when he heard an unfamiliar voice jump in, "Hey! When have I lied about something if it would get me on the bad side of the only people that even remotely trust me? Okay, run on sentence, but you gotta know I didn't lie about this! Real Enrique is not in the Darklands which means there's a large chance loverboy's back too."

Eli focused in on Claire's arms only to see a tiny green monster in a diaper! Thankfully though, he was terrified enough that his scream of terror was silent.

"He's right Tobes. He knows that lying about something like this to me would be the same as suicide. Now let's keep going."

"Ugh. Alright. But you totally owe me the first hit on NotEnrique if you're wrong and he is ly-" being cut off by Claire is annoying but going against her any further in this mode would be suicide for anyone.

"Do you hear that?" Claire breathed.

Eli rummaged in his pocket and pulled out his phone to record whatever was happening. Just as he hit record, a small noise came from the direction past his classmates. It sounded like...a baby? They whipped around and looked for the source and soon found it. Claire started crying and Tobias just stood there. Eli crept a bit closer to see what was happening. The tiny green monster was on the ground next to Tobias and the pudgy boy just stood their gaping. Claire knelt on the ground and now held a little blonde baby boy. She was smiling profusely but still cried and cried. But then she opened her eyes and let out a gasp. Her smile disappeared. She gave the baby to Tobias and leaned over to something, no. Someone. Her tears still flowed from her eyes spread wide in shock. Now they were heavier but they were quiet tears and definitely not happy.

"What the heck happened to you Jim." A strained whisper came from Claire.

 _Jim?! What's Jim doing in the middle of the woods? What's going on?!_

Eli once again crept closer. There he looked on as Claire applied first aid to a bloodied and tattered Jim Lake. Honestly the only reason she didn't notice the hyperventilating nerd was because she was also freaking out.

"Hello is this the hospital? I'm in the forest with a friend and we just found our other friend and I think he was attacked by a bear or something. He's really messed up. My friend is giving him first aid but we need someone who's like actually a doctor. His name's Jim Lake." Tobias was definitely shooketh. At least his voice was.

"Should I leave?"

"That might be a bad idea. We don't know when, who, or how this happened to Jim so it could be dangerous. So no. Don't leave. In fact, hide in Toby's backpack."

"Okay Sis."

 _Did it just say Sis?! Is Claire related to that_ thing _?!_

Eli nearly fainted. But he was caught by someone who made Eli a little more scared and less scared at the same time. "Steve?!" He whispered at his face.

"Shut it Pepperjack!" Steve shoved the twig of a boy away from him and crouched in a bush. "What's going on with the butt-snacks?"

"Well apparently they found some baby and Jim Lake in the middle of these woods. He's pretty beat up and they already called the hospital. Claire Nunez has already given him first aid."

"They beat him up?"

"No. I've been following the two of them since Claire grabbed Tobias on his way home. They didn't do anything but talk to this tiny green monster."

"M-monster?!"

Suddenly they heard voices come from somewhere to the left of them. This caused both of them to cling to each other. Their fear disappeared when they saw that they were carrying a stretcher and calling out for the teens.

* * *

 **:D I didn't think I would be able to keep a weekly schedule but now I think I can keep up! I'll try to update every Friday or so...after this. This is kind of a bonus chapter in my opinion and an apology for what I thought was a messy and short first chapter. But to be clear, I'm not going to rewrite this chapters events in anyone else's point of view. Well maybe Steve but that's very low in probability. Sorry if the chapters seem short right now. Trust me, they seem short to me as well. But at least I'm getting something out! :D**


	3. Chap 3 Could Be Worse

Claire had just finished disinfecting smaller cuts and covering larger wounds with bandages when she heard the paramedics call out for them.

"Here! We're over here!" Claire looked at Toby appreciatively for not yelling loud enough to scare Enrique.

Claire stood up and cradled Enrique more for her emotional support than for his. Toby gave her a comforting hug. They felt their hearts ache as they watched their friend get put into a stretcher and maneuvered through the woods. They followed to the ambulance and were helped into the vehicle. They were obviously pretty shaken up by seeing their friend like that so the medics couldn't just leave them there.

On the way to the hospital Claire was given a blanket. When they got to the hospital they were seated in a lounge playing smooth jazz.

After sitting for a bit Barbara walked by and saw them. "Oh! It's you two. I was on break and told that a couple high school kids were here and might need something warm." She gave them both warm styrofoam cups. "I hope you like beef flavored cup o noodles." She delicately traded the warm substance for Enrique who still laid in Claire's arms. Toby thanked his friends mom.

"Dr. L?"

"Yes Tobias?"

"You should sit with us."

"Oh I don't know, I have to get back to work soon."

"No Dr. Lake. The boy is right. You should sit down." A lanky boy clutching a clipboard placed a hand on her scrubs.

"Alix? I thought you were working with the EMPs tonight."

"I am Ma'am. And you should really sit down." He gently pushed her down onto a couch and followed with her. "You told me a while ago you had a son named Jim, right? Jim Lake?"

"Um, yes." Barbara knew this tone. This gentle tone used for soothing those in emotional pain. "What's going on Alix."

He held out a hand and she clutched it nervously. The two other teens put down their noodles and clutched each other.

"At four forty seven this afternoon we got a call from from a teen stating he was walking in the woods with a friend when they found another friend of theirs." Barbara glanced at Tobias and Claire. Then nodded for Alix to continue. "The third teen was your son Ma'am. He was injured badly but not mortally. We'll have to wait until he wakes up to be sure but it doesn't seem like he'll be losing the function of any limbs. Though he might need to use crutches for a week or so."

Barbara was afraid to ask but she felt she had to. "Is there anything else?"

"I'm afraid there is more." Alix sighed as he readied his hand to give a reassuring squeeze. "Although there are no mortal wounds he will have severe scarring almost everywhere. His eyes did not react to light when we checked. We're getting him scanned now but it's not very likely that it's caused by any major head injury."

"What do you mean Alix." Barbara squeezed her hand and Alix seemed to wince a bit.

"Dr. Lake, there is a large possibility your son is now blind."

"Wh-what?" Claire felt like her tongue was tripping over itself even with the lack of effort the simple word seemed to needed for functionality.

"Believe me Miss, being blind would be the least of his worries if it weren't for you. His wounds would be severely infected and some of them are deep enough that it would have caused major damage. He could have needed amputation."

"Wow. I'm never going anywhere without my first aid kit now." Claire mumbled.

Toby stared at the ground and for once in his life did not want to finish his food.

"The three of you should get some rest. I'll be back later if there are any changes." Alix gave them each a blanket and pillow from a cupboard then went down the hall.

Claire curled up to process the day. Barbara and Enrique fell asleep. Toby called his Nana to tell her he was with friends. Then he put his and Claire's food in his bag for NotEnrique to eat.

* * *

Quite a while later, Claire was nodding off when Alix burst in and fell on his face. His clipboard snapped and papers flew everywhere. Barbara jolted awake and Claire fell from her chair. Tobias rolled off the couch he was on and helped Alix gather his papers.

"Thanks." Alix grabbed the clipboard pieces and threw them in the trash.

"Here." Barbara grabbed a clipboard from under the couch and handed it to Alix.

"Thank you."

"So what's the update." Tobias said nervously.

"Hm? Oh! Right, right. Jim. Update. On Jim. Yeah. *ahem* The scanning results came in. He doesn't have anything wrong with his brain. In fact. His brain is extremely healthy."

"That's great!" Toby immediately became happy.

"ALIX!" A dark haired woman came running down the hall.

"Ami? What's going on?"

"Alix, we need you. Oh! Dr. Lake! You should come too!"

"Calm down and tell me what's happening."

"The Lake kid. He's awake. And he's freaking out!"

"Already?" Alix was already moving. Giving his clipboard to Ami, he sprinted down the hall to the room Jim was in. The Claire and Toby followed soon after and Barbara stumbled after as well.

When those three got to the room Alix ducked into, they saw him slowly approaching a terrified looking Jim. He was trying to hold himself up but it was painfully obvious how much it hurt him to do so. His panic was apparent as his unseeing eyes opened and closed in hopes that the sense would come back to him.

"Jim!" His desperate attempts to recover his sight stopped as he stared at nothing in the direction of the familiar voice of his crush.

"Claire? Is that you? Where?" He put a hand out as if searching for something in the dark.

"Yes Jim. I'm here." She looked to Alix who nodded, then she went to grasp his hand. "Toby's here too. We're at the hospital. When we found you you were very heavily injured. You need to rest."

"Claire." His hands held on to her as if she were his only lifeline.

"Yes Jim?"

"I'm blind aren't I. I can hear birds as if it's morning. And if we're at the hospital there should be windows or at least a lamp. But I-I can't..." His breathing became staggered as he held back tears.

"Jim." She took his hand and put it to her face as tears rimmed her eyes.

"It's so dark." Both of their efforts not to cry failed with Jim's whisper. Alix silently ushered everyone else out of the room. They didn't need the reason to be said out loud.

When Claire saw the door close behind the group she hugged Jim carefully as to not disturb his injuries. "We're alone now." She couldn't help but feel her heart ache as Jim fell apart (thankfully only emotionally) in her arms.

After he calmed down a bit Jim whispered a question Claire had a feeling he would ask. "Claire. How am I supposed to protect everyone like this."

"With help and some special training. Probably." The two of them relished in each others company before Claire broke the silence. "Everyone is safe Jim. ARRRGH is even back."

"Really? But didn't he?"

"We made a deal with a certain group for an antidote for him. You should've seen Toby when ARRRGH woke up... It was really funny." Claire immediately regretted her choice of words.

"Guess I missed my last chance for that, huh." Jim looked like a child that was just shammed by a loved one.

Claire placed her forehead on his. "Jim. Let's not think about what can't be done anymore. there's plenty that can still be done. But for now, you need to rest more than anything. We can discuss other things later." She started getting up.

"Wait!" Jim clung to Claire's hands desperately. "Please. Stay with me."

"Okay Jim. Let me grab a chair so I can sit down." Jim frowned. "How about this. I won't stop talking to you while I get the chair. There are plenty in this room. In fact there's a couch on the other side of your fancy hospital bed but I need you to let go so I can get over there." Jim's frown let up somewhat as he thought over this. He nodded and let go.

"You're mom has been okay. She started eating at fast food places more often so I convinced my mom to invite her for dinner most nights. I usually left the table early because your mom being there made me think of things that made me kind of depressed. I'm gonna move this couch a bit closer real quick so don't be alarmed by the noise." Even though he was told what was happening Jim couldn't help flinching a bit at the abrupt noise. "But that's all okay because you're alive." The couch stopped it's movement and Jim felt himself relax at Claire's touch.

Jim felt himself sink into sleep that he now realized he really wanted.

* * *

 **Tadaa...**

 **So last chapter I said I'd keep an every Friday update schedule. I'm tweaking the plan a bit. If I post a chapter over one thousand words, then that's that. But, if the chapter is below one thousand you can most likely expect either another short chapter within four days, or a _special_ chapter. **


	4. Chap 4 The Initial Return

**Thanks to everyone that has left positive comments!**

 **Sorry if this 'chapter' seems rushed. It probably is.**

* * *

As Jim slept, Claire only ever left his side twice. Once to tell the others what was going on and another to go to the bathroom. Both instances took place within an hour of Jim falling asleep and she felt guilty both times. Like she was betraying Jim's trust.

That's why she refused to leave his side after she used the bathroom.

* * *

Over the next few days, Claire came to dread going to school. Not hate. No. Dread. She couldn't focus on anything. After finding Jim on Tuesday, Claire could think of little else. Enrique was just about the only thing besides Jim she could think of. Although, Dr. Lake had agreed to take care of him for her, she still worried he would have lasting impressions from the Darklands.

By Friday, if you went to Arcadia Oaks high, you knew what happened to Jim Lake. News of a classmate having been mauled by a bear and now being blind travels fast. Especially so if the victim was a kind person that would cheer anyone up or at least distract them from their worries. So in reality, it only took the most part of Wednesday before the whole school knew.

For the rest of the month, things were pretty gloomy. Even Steve had been worrying about Jim. When Claire told Jim how much the school cared, he smiled a soft smile. The first non-forced smile Jim gave since the Darklands and it was because his classmates were worried.

Cute. Was all she could think when he smiled. Had Jim not have been so flustered and understandably traumatized, Claire might have been a bit upset he didn't give that first smile to her. But all she could think, was CUTE.

* * *

It was shortly after a month had passed that Jim was cleared to go home and to school. He was given a wheelchair until his legs could heal enough for proper use. And a bed was set up on the main floor. Stairs we're a "Big no-no!" as Alix had said.

He got home on a Saturday and had immediately been wheeled into the his - bedroom - for - now - used - to - be - living - room that a group of anonymous high schoolers had volunteered to set it up. They luckily remembered last minute that he couldn't see and made a recording of good wishes and threats to "get better or else."

Jim laughed a little at said recording because it made the group not very anonymous. He had their voices now and that's all he could tell a person by at this point.

* * *

That next Monday, the school was tense. None of the teachers planned on getting anything done today. Jim Lake was coming back to school. Everyone was waiting for him. Even a few janitors were anxious for Jim's return. But no one was as anxious as Jim himself. Even as his mother and Claire helped him from the car to the wheelchair to his first class, he could hardly believe it. Left and right, people were saying "Welcome back!" and, "Glad you're not dead." It felt weird to be the center of attention, even if he couldn't see anyone staring. Of course it felt weird. He was usually the center of bad intending attention.

"You okay Jim?" Claire's familiar voice and gentle hand on his shoulder made Jim slightly less anxious.

"Ye - yeah. I'm fine Claire."

"It's not nice to lie, Jim." Even without being able to see it, Claire's glare sent shivers up Jim's spine.

Letting out a sigh, Jim let words fall from his mouth. "I don't know Claire. This feels wrong and right at the same time. That didn't make any sense, but that's kind of the point? I'm glad I'm back, I really am. But it's not the same."

"Of course it's not the same, Jim." Then the bell rang. "That's the bell. Oh, by the way, your schedule was altered. Apparently to help you go between classes, there'll be someone guiding you between each classes. It won't be the same person each period. We have first period together."

* * *

The first half of the day went by pretty quickly for Jim. He got a few, "Hey Jim!" 's and regretful(?) sighs from teachers. When it came time for lunch, Jim was a lottle overwhelmed and didn't really feel like eating where he could feel everyone looking at him. So Jim, Toby, and Claire got permission to eat in the principal's office at lunch.

"Jimbo? How's your day been?"

Jim turned his head to where he heard his friends voice come from and sighed heavily. "I'm honestly not sure right now Tobes. I'm not really sure about anything right now. I don't even want to think about what will happen with my TH duties." The conversation ended there as they ate the rest of their lunches.

Jim had made a good point. In all of Blinky's history lessons and various stories of previous trollhunters, they had never heard of a blind one before.

* * *

 **Sooo, It's been a while. I've got to admit, I had kind of given up on this. I didn't feel like continuing. Guess what made me kick myself in the butt to keep working on this. You know what it was?**

 **A review.**

 **They really are the oil to a writers clockwork. They make us want to work.**

 **Well, the** _ **positive**_ **ones have that effect anyway.**

 **Speaking of which, (RANT WARNING IGNORE THIS IF YOU ARE KIND AND NOT A PUSHY A-)** **just so it's clear, this story is being written by myself for purposes of my own entertainment/fulfillment and not to fulfill anyone else's wishes. I am sharing my toy with you. If you have suggestions, go ahead and share. Critique on writing style is accepted as well. But if you do not enjoy my story choices, I'm not begging you to stay. There are plenty of other fanfictions. I'm only saying this because I've been told to do things concerning plot and pairings. I'm fine with someone saying, _It'd be really cool if this and such happened or if blagh and flagh got together._ That's cool. That's fine. I don't hate you.**

 **HOWEVER, if you say something more along the lines of, _I hate these two characters together, I ship that one from your pairings and this other person. Don't ever even hint at that ship you have, because I hate it_. Thou canst geteth thyself out. Writteth thine own fiction of fan...dom. Seriously though, fan fiction . net makes it so freaking easy to publish your own fanfictions. So if you can't ask nicely for a plot point, put it in your own fanfiction and leave me alone. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D**


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